The Inbetweeners star James Buckley has said the show can’t return (Picture: Channel Four)
The Inbetweeners star James Buckley has explained why he thinks the show could never return to screens again.
Running for three seasons between 2008 and 2010, the teen sitcom followed teenager William McKenzie (Simon Bird) and his friends Simon Cooper (Joe Thomas), Neil Sutherland (Blake Harrison) and Jay Cartwright (James Buckley) at the fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive.
However, in the years since the show ended, it has come under fire for its ‘sexism and casual homophobia’, with its stars speaking out at times too.
Now James, 36, has again shut down conversations about reviving the show.
While the actor’s character was best known for his far-flung sex tales, James said he wasn’t concerned about the content and whether or not it would stand up today, as the characters were simply ‘idiots’.
Instead, James said he believed the issue would be in the fact the jokes would seem incredibly weird coming from grown men.
He think it would be a bit too strange having grown men making jokes the teenage characters became known for (Picture: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images for Sky)
‘It was all justified because they were never the heroes,’ he said.
‘They were idiots and they got what they deserved.
‘That’s why it can’t come back – you can’t have men in their late thirties acting like they’re in sixth form and getting away with that stuff,’ he added when speaking to the Daily Mail.
While some have questioned the show in recent years, James expressed his love for the series and how a past comment got misconstrued when he spoke about the possibility of returning last year.
‘I always get asked if I’d ever do more and I said “For no amount of money” and that quote got run away,’ he explained.
‘I didn’t mean about money – it means more to me than money.’
After leaving the show James went on to appear in White Gold, Doctor Who and, most recently, on Celebrity MasterChef.
But last year he became the first UK celebrity to become a Cameo millionaire after he amassed $1 million (£930,000) on the app.
The sitcom ran for three seasons and also starred Blake Harrison, Joe Thomas and Simon Bird(Picture: Bwark Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock)
Despite creating around 40,000 videos since launching his account, James explained there were some requests he denied.
He said he’d often had to say no to singing songs from The Inbetweeners or recite quotes because he often couldn’t remember the requested segments.
‘I can’t remember it. Even with work I can’t remember things let alone something I did that long ago,’ he said.
After huge success on the app was revealed, James said the money he’d made had been a ‘godsend financially’.
The Inbetweeners is streaming on Channel 4.
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His comments come after a former co-star said there was sexism and ‘casual homphobia’.